We’re just two days out from the 52nd Tamworth Country Music Festival, and it’s shaping up to be a hot one. The is reporting temperatures above 34°C for the first five days of the famous 10-day festival.

The opening date for this year’s mammoth event – Friday, 19 January – is set to be a very warm and sunny 35°C, with light winds likely not doing much to keep the heat at bay. Saturday is the same temperature, with partly cloudy conditions and a slight chance of wind. Another 35°C day follows on Sunday – mostly sunny, light winds and a little chance of rain have been reported.

That’s the weekend forecast – at the time of writing, anyway – but Monday and Tuesday might be even hotter.

Right now, Monday is forecasted to be a very hot and sunny 38 °C, while Tuesday will be one degree hotter.

For this weekend, punters should be advised to wear sun protection from 8:50 am until 5:20 pm, with the UV Index predicted to hit an extreme 13. In addition to sun protection – sunscreen, sunglasses, finding shade where possible – recommends that attendees drink plenty of water, and if you’re drinking alcohol in the sun, balance out the beers with water, food and shelter.

Heat is dangerous for many, and some people won’t realise just how brutal standing and dancing in the sun can be over extended periods of time.

If you’re attending Tamworth Country Music Festival with friends, keep an eye out for them as the weather heats up, and if you see someone struggling, either help them hydrate and relax or find emergency staff on-site.

This year’s Tamworth Country Music Festival will run over ten days, from Friday, 19 January to Sunday, 28 January. It’s a free, ungated event held throughout the titular town in north-west NSW.

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Most of the festivities will take place on the idyllic grounds of Tamworth’s Bicentennial Park, which will be officially rebranded as Toyota Park for the duration of the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Every night from 7 pm, free live entertainment will run on the titular Toyota Park Stage (you can look at this as the festival’s “mainstage”).

For those looking to escape the heat, performances will also be held in local pubs, including The Pig & Tinder Box, The Tudor, The Post Office Hotel, and The Pub. Licensed clubs like West Diggers, the Tamworth Services Club, and the Tamworth City Bowling Club will also keep the music rolling. Even the town’s retail outlets, like the Centrepoint Arcade and Tamworth Square, will host live entertainment.

We’ve noted all the biggest events in a handy list of everything you need to know before attending the Tamworth Country Music Festival

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